The Best Of Kotaku, Mass Effect Week Edition

It was Mass Effect Week here at Kotaku. We, uh, we might’ve overdone it a bit! It’s the first time we’ve tried a themed week and we probably got a bit too excited at the prospect of sharing all of our thoughts with you, in light of the conclusion of the trilogy with the release…

A Look At The Crazy (And Not Totally Accurate) Science In BioShock Infinite

Pay attention, there will be a quiz at the end. No but seriously though: check out this educational video by outsidexbox, which looks at quantum mechanics, and how it relates to BioShock Infinite. Or in other words, the science behind stuff in BioShock Infinite (like floating cities, or multiple universes), along with a look at…

Hey Look, It’s A Dude Blowing Up A Wii U With C4

The headline says it all—the guys at Rated RR have gone ahead and blown up a Wii U using C4 plastic explosive. (Though first, they shot the Wii U controller with a Barrett MRAD sniper rifle.) They’ve filmed it all in slow-motion. Enjoy. (Thanks, Richard.)

Here’s a new trailer for State of Decay, a ridiculously ambitious RTS/shooter/zombie survival game that will be out this June for XBLA.

Game Developers Really Need To Stop Letting Teenage Boys Design Their Characters

This is the newest trailer for Dragon’s Crown, the Vanillaware-developed game that will be out this year for PS3 and Vita. It features the sorceress, one character from the game. As you can see, the sorceress was designed by a 14-year-old boy. Perhaps game development studios should stop hiring teenagers? At least they’re cheap, I…

The Most Amazing Video Game Continue Screens

The continue countdown screen was introduced to arcades in the 80s. It was a simple and effective way of getting players to fork over more money. When you fail, the screen comes up for a limited time with a countdown to insert additional coins or press a button. Most of these games’ continue screens were…

This Week in Gaming Apps Has Nothing to Do With Mass… Dammit, Shepard!

I don’t care if he does endorse Kotaku’s weekly round-up of the gaming apps we played and reviewed, there is absolutely no reason for Commander Shepard to show up in the mosaic image. No, it doesn’t that he had his own mobile game a few years back. That wasn’t even him, it was a rogue…

This Is Why Gym Leaders Shouldn’t Give Away Pokémon Badges Willy-Nilly

The way it should work is, if the Pokémon trainer defeats the gym leader, the trainer gets a badge. None of that touchy-feely “you get a badge because you proved your kindness” crap, like in this NSFW cartoon by egoraptor. Brock finds this out the hard way, though. PokeAwesome 2 – Getting a Gym Badge…

The Many Musical Tributes To Mass Effect

No doubt about it: the Mass Effect games had some great music. Over the run of the trilogy, a collection of composers and songwriters came together to create an iconic, unmistakable sonic identity. (Sometimes, they even hid their music in the game itself.) But just as remarkable as the music in the games has been…

Believe It Or Not, This Video Game Poetry Is Beautiful

What do you think about when you think about poetry? Does a 1950s beatnik stereotype come into your head? Do you think of a smoky café where open-mike slams happen every Saturday night? Are memories of Pole Position summoned when you think of free verse? Depending on your tastes, it sometimes might feel like poetry…

It wouldn’t be Mass Effect Week if we didn’t link one more time to “Mass Effect Massive Interface Fail,” game designer Krystian Majewski’s incredible three-part takedown of the first game’s awful user interface. It’s a funny, damning, and wonderfully thorough analysis. If you’ve never met Honk Shepard, now’s the time.

The Secret Audio In BioShock Infinite Sure Is Creepy

At one point during BioShock Infinite, you gain a vigor called Possession. The scene where this occurs is evocative and eerie, and the audio that plays at the time is partially to blame. If you play that eerie audio backwards, it becomes even creepier: you can understand what’s being said. And this audio found by…

Mass Effect 3‘s Ending Disrespects Its Most Invested Players

This article was originally published on April 3, 2012. We’re bumping it up for Mass Effect week. For a different view on Mass Effect 3’s malleable ending, check out Stephen’s take We should have known the conclusion would be trouble. Ending a game like Mass Effect 3 poses a special set of problems, because a…

Eleven Indie JRPGs On My Radar

Here at Random Encounters, we spend a lot of time talking about big JRPGs—the Final Fantasys, the Dragon Quests, the Taleses. NOT TODAY. Today we’re going to talk about the smaller ones. “But wait a minute!” you are almost certainly screaming right now, your hands shaking as you get ready to write an angry comment.…

The Moneysaver: Of Batmen and Blood Dragons

Just as quickly as Batman: Arkham Origins was announced, it’s been discounted. By “discounted,” I mean $10 in Amazon credit for pre-ordering on any platform, which is basically the same thing. If you don’t like Batman, we’ve got more Batman for you anyway, with deals on Injustice: Gods Among Us for both platforms. Hit the…

War of the Fallen is the Right Way to Make a Mobile Card Battler

I’ve been quite vocal in the past about my disdain for the current generation of ‘collectible card games’ blossoming in the wake of Rage of Bahmut‘s success. Games like Aeria Mobile’s Pirate Maidens and Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade offer pretty art without much in the way of depth, simulating rarity to drive sales of booster…

The Prisoners May Be Innocent in One of 2013’s Most Interesting PC Games

I’m already on-record about how fascinating Prison Architect is. Seriously, it’s SimPrison—or ThemePrison, if you will—made by people who seem to be damn near fearless about making video games about uncomfortable topics. The game is from the indie studio Introversion, who have also made the saddest/best game about nuclear war. I recently sent Introversion’s own…

Standing In The Rain In A Trench Coat From The Future

Unrelenting rain drums on the tin roof of the shelter. I huddle from the chill in my standard-issue trench coat, bathed in the cool glow of the data terminal. This is how every adventure game should begin. I guess there’s room for other genres, but there’s something comforting about the cold and dreary future of…

The Most Defining Decisions You Have To Make In Mass Effect

Ever since the first game, Mass Effect has always been about shaping the story the way the player wants it. Through Shepard’s actions, players could create millions upon millions of iterations of the same universe. We decided to take a look back at the series—specifically, on some of the decisions our Shepards had to make…

Usually, “Francis” Makes You Laugh. This Time, He Might Make You Cry.

You probably know Francis. The big guy’s best known as a highly combustible enthusiast who rants breathlessly on YouTube. Whatever the latest video game controversy or glory is—an always-on next-gen Xbox, the new SimCity or the latest WoW expansion—you can count on Francis to have an opinion. But Francis is a character, played by the…